Chapter 9 Of the Flight of the Noldor After a time a great concourse gathered about the Ring of Doom; and

the Valar sa t in shadow, for it was night. But the stars of Varda now glimmered overhead, and the air was clear; for the winds of M anw has driven away the vapours of death and rolled back the shadows of the sea. Then Yavanna arose and stood upon Ezellohar, the Green Mound, but it was bare now and black; and she laid her hands upon the Trees, but they were dea d and dark, and each branch that she touched broke and fell lifeless at her feet. Then many voices were lifted in lam entation; and it seemed to those that mourned that they had drained to the dregs the cup of woe that Melkor had filled for them. But it was not so. Yavanna spoke before the Valar, saying: "The Light of the Trees has passed away, and lives now only in the Silmarils of Fanor. Foresighted was he! Even for those who are mightiest under Ilv atar there is some work that they may accomplish once, and once only. The Light of the Trees I brought into being , and within E I can do so never again. Yet had I but a little of that light I could recall life to the Trees, er e their roots decay; and then our hurt should be healed, and the malice of Melkor be confounded.' Then Manw spoke and said: 'Hearest thou, Fanor son of Finw, the words of Yavanna? W ilt thou grant what she would ask?' There was long silence, but Fanor answered no word. Then Tulkas cried: 'Speak, O Noldo, yea or nay! But who shall deny Yavanna? And did not the light of the Silmarils come from her work in the beginning?' But Aul the Maker said: 'Be not hasty! We ask a greater thing than thou knowest. Let him have peace yet awhile.' But Fanor spoke then, and cried bitterly: 'For the less even as for the greater t here is some deed that he may accomplish but once only; and in that deed his heart shall rest. It may be that I can unlock my jewels, but never again shall I make their like; and if I must break them, I shall break my heart, and I shall be slain; first of all the Eldar in Aman.' 'Not the first,' said Mandos, but they did not understand his word; and again th ere was silence, while Fanor brooded in the dark. It seemed to him that he was beset in a ring of enemies, an d the words of Melkor returned to him, saying that the Silmarils were not safe, if the Valar would possess them. 'And i s he not Vala as are they,' said his thought, 'and does he not understand their hearts? Yea, a thief shall reveal thi eves!' Then he cried aloud: 'This thing I will not do of free will. But if the Valar will constrain me, then shall I know indeed that Melkor is of their kindred.' Then Mandos said: 'Thou hast spoken.' And Nienna arose and went up onto Ezelloha r, and cast back her grey hood, and with her tears washed away the defilements of Ungoliant; and she sang in mourning for the bitterness of the world and the Marring of Arda. But even as Nienna mourned, there came messengers from Formenos, and they were Noldor and bore new tidings of evil. For they told how a blind Darkness came northward, and in the m

idst walked some power for which there was no name, and the Darkness issued from it. But Melkor also was there, a nd he came to the house of Fanor, and there he slew Finw King of the Noldor before his doors, and spilled the firs t blood in the Blessed Realm; for Finw alone had not fled from the horror of the Dark. And they told that Melkor ha d broken the stronghold of Formenos, and taken all the Jewels of the Noldor that were hoarded in that place ; and the Silmarils were gone. Then Fanor rose, and lifting up his hand before Manw he cursed Melkor, naming him Morgoth, the Black Foe of the World; and by that name only was he known to the Eldar ever after. And he cursed also the summons of Manw and the hour in which he came to Taniquetil, thinking in the madness of his rage and grief that had he been at Formenos his strength would have availed more than to be slain also, as Melkor had purpos ed. Then Fanor ran from the Ring of Doom, and fled into the night; for his father was dearer to him than the Light o f Valinor or the peerless works of his hands; and who among sons, of Elves or of Men, have held their fathers of greate r worth? Many there grieved for the anguish of Fanor, but his loss was not his alone; and Yavanna wept by the mound, in fear that the Darkness should swallow the last rays of the Light of Valinor for ever. For though the Valar did not yet understand fully what had befallen, they perceived that Melkor had called upon s ome aid that came from beyond Arda. The Silmarils had passed away, and all one it may seem whether Fanor had said yea or nay to Yavanna; yet had he said yea at the first, before the tidings came from Formenos, it may be that his afte r deeds would have been other than they were. But now the doom of the Noldor drew near. Meanwhile Morgoth escaping from the pursuit of the Valar came to the wastes of A raman. This land lay northward between the Mountains of the Pelri and the Great Sea, as Avathar lay to the south; but Araman was a wider land, and between the shores and the mountains were barren plains, ever colder a s the Ice drew nearer. Through this region Morgoth and Ungoliant passed in haste, and so came through the great mist s of Oiomr to the Helcarax, where the strait between Araman and Middle-earth was filled with grinding ice; and he crossed over, and came back at last to the north of the Outer Lands. Together they went on, for Morgoth could not elude Ungoliant, and her cloud was still about him, and all her eyes were upon him; and they came to those lands that lay north of the Firth of Drengist. Now Morgoth was drawing near to the ruins of Angband, where his great western strong hold had been; and Ungoliant